Magic in Tomarr is steeped in tradition. Arcane and mystic secrets have been passed down from generation to generation, and many of the rituals and ceremonies practiced today are unchanged from what was practiced five hundred years ago. This weight of history grants mages (and particularly ritualists) a high status within Tomarr, though it also places great expectations upon them to live up to the examples of their ancestors and adhere to Tomarran traditions.
Magic is divided into two “realms” in Tomarran teachings, Sky magic and Earth magic. Sky magic is ephemeral, impossible to hold or see its workings, while Earth magic is concrete, with real physical impacts and (usually) immediate results. Sky magics consist primarily of divination rituals, Sorceries that empower mages, and rituals that create long-term effects that aren’t physical in nature. They are viewed by most Tomarrans as being more mysterious and unpredictable than Earth magics, but also as having a stronger impact over the long run. Earth magics, by contrast, consist of transformations, Sorceries that empower warriors and healers, and any ritual that creates a physical effect in the world. Earth magics are seen as being a practical and straightforward counterbalance to the sometimes distracting and unclear nature of Sky magics, though Tomarran culture views it as dangerous to heavily rely upon them for prolonged periods. Most spells can be either Sky or Earth magic, depending on how the caster’s magical tradition manifests them — a druid who conjures vines to entangle an enemy’s feet is practicing Earth magic, while a Shrike who commands a target to “not move another step” is practicing Sky magic.
The Tomarrans view magic as a necessary tool in maintaining the Balance. Good and evil, chaos and order, life and death — with magic all of these are possible, and all are necessary at some point or another. Whether it be maintaining the health of the Steppe’s ecosystems with rituals of bounty and pestilence, keeping the peace amongst the Kith with rituals to reward and punish, or healing the sick and cursing anything that would threaten the Tomarran people — magic is seen as one of the most powerful means through which mortals can affect and protect the Great Balance.
The flip side of this is that magic is one of the most dangerous things that can be used to disrupt the Balance, and so Tomarrans as a whole are very wary of anyone who would use magic towards such a purpose. Mages who go against their people’s traditions, using their gifts to go against or upset the Balance and the cycles of the world, are under much closer scrutiny and subject to much harsher and more immediate penalties than those who cannot use magic.
The Tomarran version of Dendromancy is known as Grassweaving. Due to the lack of many of the Sacred Trees that are used in Dendromancy upon the Steppe, Tomarran druids took the runes and symbology of Dendromancy and adapted it by weaving grasses into braids and knot-like talismans, decorating them with bone or wooden tokens bearing the runes of the appropriate Sacred Tree(s). Dendromancy is favored by Gazelles, Leopards, and Caracals, especially those who live in regions of the Steppe that are dominated by savannah, tundra, and grasslands.
Osteomancy is practiced across the Steppe, and is particularly favored by Caracal mages. The Tomarran version of Osteomancy focuses heavily on the beasts of the Steppe rather than the broader bestiary of the tradition, and especially on how each beast fits into the Great Balance. For instance, because reindeer are one of the pillars that sustain communities across the northern tundras of the Steppe, the Stag as an Osteomantic beast has the property of “Sustenance” in Tomarran Osteomantic practice, in addition to its normal properties of “Nobility” and “Swiftness.” Lions, in addition to the normal properties they have as part of the Panther family within Osteomantic practice, have the property of “Refinement” due to how they cull the weakest prey from the rest of the herd.
Tomarran Osteomancers prefer to make talismans out of bone, antler, and teeth, carving Dendromantic or Stoic runes into the beast’s remain to amplify the power contained within. Many choose to decorate their garments with many such talismans, clacking and clattering as they walk and perform their rituals. Those who wear leather headbands or circlets frequently wear “crowns” of antler and bone during their rituals as a ceremonial headdress. Diviners who don’t use Astromancy frequently use Osteomancy for their divination rituals, taking small animal bones and reading the results when they are cast upon a hide or cloth marked with arcane symbols.
Astromancy is favored by Snow Leopards and any of the Kocharr who travel across the Steppe. Snow Leopards use it in their lessons and divination magic, using the archetypes of each of the Arcana to make their stories more relevant to the present day. Mages amongst the Kocharr use Astromancy to help navigate across the Steppe, and frequently offer fortune-telling services in towns that they visit, using decks of Astromancy cards and sometimes performing true divination rituals when their customers are willing to pay for the Aether Crystals. Due to the randomness of Astromancy readings the tradition is seen as inherently chaotic, and so Tomarran Astromancers are taught to lead their lives with as much order and regularity as possible to balance out the chaos of their magics.
Tomarr was where the Dwarven Lineage originated, and Dwarven heritage is strong throughout the Kith and Clans. Many Dwarven mages choose to learn Stone Calling as their primary magical tradition, feeling that it strengthens their connection to their ancestors and the long history of the peoples of the Steppe. This is especially true amongst those Kith who live within the oldest settlements on the Steppe, where Stoic runes from a millennia ago can be found carved into the foundations of many buildings to ward away evil and invite prosperity upon the occupants. Practitioners of Stone Calling upon the Steppe are all taught how important it is to add just a bit of chaos into their lives, as Stone Calling is seen as a highly ordered magical tradition that makes its practitioners more vulnerable to Calcification.
Petromancy is common in the more arid and rocky regions of the Steppe, where the materials for Dendromancy and Osteomancy are harder to come by. Raw and unpolished crystals are viewed as having a rough, natural quality that makes them equal to or even exceed the qualities of cut and polished stones. Even when a mage does make use of a cut and polished gem, they frequently choose stones that have large and visible flaws in them, as “perfect” stones are seen by Tomarrans as an invitation for Calcification to strike the user. Petromancy is often favored by Tomarran Dwarves who aren’t raised in communities with a strong Stone Calling tradition, and Gazelles in the more urban parts of the Steppe frequently use Petromancy for creating enchanted items.
Spellsinging is an ancient tradition within the Steppe, most frequently practiced by Onagers and other members of the wandering Kocharr Kiths, who sing as they travel and work those songs into rituals once they have stopped for the night. Tomarran Spellsinging consists of ancient ballads and poems passed down through the generations, with time kept through drums of animal hide. Rituals are frequently accompanied by either a ceremonial dance or ritualized combat that represents whatever is being sung about. Shrikes and other mystics frequently sing hymns for their rituals, and some Leopards who spend much of their lives traveling amongst the Kocharr use Spellsinging as their magical tradition, particularly focusing on songs and poems that can be used as teaching tools.